SANDY HOOK -- The No. 10 Brien McMahon High School boys lacrosse team came out sluggish in its CIAC Class L quarterfinal game Saturday afternoon at Blue & Gold Stadium, and the Senators couldn't overcome the early 6-0 deficit in a 15-10 loss to second-seeded Newtown.

Third-year head coach Glenn Adams and his Nighthawks (16-3) completed a sweep of the city schools Saturday, after eliminating 15th-seeded Norwalk 13-8 in the first round.

Newtown advances to take on No. 3 Ridgefield (17-4) in one semifinal on Wednesday at a site to be determined. The Tigers dispatched sixth-seeded Glastonbury (13-5) 14-3 on Saturday in Tiger Hollow.

"I don't know why we came out slow," said McMahon head coach Mike Epstein. "We didn't think they'd play with the speed they played. (Junior Dan Hebert and senior Justin Brophy) carved us up. Our kids got a lot of heart. We've got some gutty kids. We want to be blue collar, and we grunted it out. (Junior goalie Evan Isaacs) made some big saves, and we hit some posts. Glenn had his kids prepared well."

Hebert recorded five goals and four assists, while Brophy collected six goals -- including four of the first six -- and an assist.

Junior Zack Bartolo paced the offense for McMahon (11-7) with four goals and an assist, senior Ryan Scott had two goals and two assists, and junior Drew D'Antonio added a goal and three assists to his dominant performance on faceoffs, winning 15 of 16 draws over the final three quarters.

"We were concerned about Drew's hamstring," Epstein said of an injury that had slowed D'Antonio over the past few weeks. "This game was huge about possession, and Drew did a great job once he got in."

Unfortunately that was after the Nighthawks' early flurry, beginning with Hebert setting up Brophy on the left post 33 seconds into the contest. At 10:04, Hebert came out from behind the net and snapped a shot behind sophomore goalie Josh Miller (15 saves) for a 2-0 lead.

Brophy and Hebert reversed their spots on the field for the third goal 94 seconds later, and Brophy took a pass from junior Graham Derrickson with the man advantage at 4:49 and made it 4-0.

The Hebert-to-Brophy connection clicked again 19.7 seconds before the end of the quarter, and Derrickson took a Brophy feed in the slot for a 6-0 margin at 10:37 of the second period.

"It was pretty huge to start quickly and get the game to our tempo," Brophy said. "It showed we could act like a team and click on all cylinders. This was more of a team effort (than the Nighthawks have shown at times this season), and Dan created space for me. It was a matter of timing with the picks that were there."

D'Antonio won the ensuing faceoff and got the ball to Scott, who found Bartolo near the right post to get the Senators going nine seconds farther into the quarter.

Another D'Antonio draw control produced a Scott-to-senior Greg Watson tally at 9:52, and McMahon was within 6-2.

"We didn't have possession of the ball early," D'Antonio said. "We got down and never got all the way back up. Ep makes me practice faceoffs, and my wingmen helped me get the ground balls. I love this team. We have a lot of heart. We kept battling. I look forward to next year. We got some wins late in the year, even with the injuries."

The Senators won the loose ball battle 40-30, but those trips often ended with another turnover or died in the pocket of Isaacs' stick. The junior made 14 saves, several of them choking off McMahon's momentum and returning the ball to his potent offense.

Newtown's seventh goal was a dazzling play by senior Trey Trudell -- and bad luck for Miller. The goalie was attempting a clear, Trudell got his stick in the right place for an interception just outside the crease.

Trudell slammed the ball into the back of the net at 8:49 and it was 7-2 in the blink of an eye.

D'Antonio set up Watson just over two minutes later, and senior Henry Todd picked off Isaacs' clearing pass, leading to D'Antonio's assist on Bartolo's goal at 5:21 that got the Senators within 7-4.

Miller stoned Hebert about three minutes into the third quarter, but Brophy pounced on the rebound and snuck it over the goal line to make it 9-5. Hebert used a Trudell feed low on the right wing and the lead was back up to five more than halfway through the third quarter.

McMahon would not get closer than four goals in the final 16 minutes.

"The first goal of the second half was the biggest moment, I thought," said Adams, a former Norwalk High standout. "We haven't played an entire 48 minutes all season, and this was the first time we came out in the first quarter and scored a few goals. If we do that, and hustle the rest of the time, we will be successful. It's definitely been a fun ride. We talk about getting to this time of year and these moments. The kids executed and played hard. Ebert and Brophy did a great job, and Evan has been doing it all year long. A big save changes momentum, and gets the ball back to the offense to score."

Epstein knows he will lose some key players, but he also realizes there will be growth with his backline, which will return three starters in 2013.

"I think our kids tried to do what we wanted to do instead of what (Newtown) gave us," Epstein said. "I thought their kids played well, and I wish them the best of luck. I don't think I had us prepared enough defensively."

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